The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2008-260105, filed Oct. 6, 2008 and 2009-160191 filed Jul. 6, 2009 are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head provided with a piezoelectric element. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head, liquid ejecting apparatus, and an actuator device provided with a piezoelectric element which includes a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode and which produces a pressure change in a pressure generating chamber communicating with a nozzle opening.
2. Related Art
Piezoelectric elements used in liquid ejecting heads and the like each include a piezoelectric layer disposed between two electrodes and composed of a piezoelectric material exhibiting an electro-mechanical conversion function. A variety of materials may be used as the piezoelectric layer, included layers containing lead, zirconium, and titanium, for example, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) or the like, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-223404.
However, when a piezoelectric element using the piezoelectric layers currently known in the art is used, a sufficient displacement has not been attained. This problem is not limited to liquid ejecting heads such as an ink jet recording head, and the problem is also present in actuator devices mounted on other apparatuses.